Dr. Faustus and Christian moralityIn the play Doctor Faustus the main character sells his soul to the devil and then dies and is sent to hell. A question that comes to mind while reading this book is, "Does Doctor Faustus have Christian morals?" Even if he is convinced to sell his soul to the devil, he may still have some Christian beliefs. Some dialogues in the play give some signals that tell the reader whether Faustus has Christian morals. The cultural studies method is shown in this article because we are talking about someone's beliefs or morals. In this play, Marlowe shows Doctor Faustus' religious beliefs. In Act I, Faustus has the opportunity to ask Mephostophilis anything he wants to know. Faustus asks where hell is and wants some information about hell. When the play begins, Faustus is not afraid of death and later tells Mephostophilis “I think hell is a fairy tale” (Marlowe 43). You can also assume that he believes that the only place to go after death is heaven. Towards the end of the play he believes that heaven and hell exist and that eternity can be spent there. Faustus could also be considered an atheist because in some acts of the play he denies the existence of God and considers religion a false ritual. Faustus even invokes God: «Ah my God... I would like to cry, but the devil dries my tears» (96). The part of the play that best describes his beliefs is immediately after he has sold his soul to the devil and decided whether or not to repent. He states: "My heart is hardened, I cannot repent. I can hardly name salvation, faith or heaven. Swords, poison, halters and my poisoned steel are placed before me to set me free... I am resolved, Fausto does not he will repent” (45). When he finally asks for forgiveness and wants to repent before God, he is denied and is forced to spend eternity in hell. The Cultural Studies method describes someone's morals or beliefs , but I'm not described so well in this play. In the play we learn what Faustus' religious beliefs are and how they relate to cultural studies. The book was written in Shakespeare's time and what they knew about Heaven or Hell is probably different than in. which we believe today.
tags